


From A Certain Point Of View

by redheadeddevastation



Series: Dark Matter [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-01-08 00:07:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21226502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redheadeddevastation/pseuds/redheadeddevastation
Summary: "Yet, somehow, some fucking way, you manage to find the. One. Goddamn. Guy."Kylo freaks out.  Luke tried to explain himself to Rey.Teeny tiny angsty one-shot. 'Mature' for the swears and the pots.





	From A Certain Point Of View

"Over my dead fucking body, Rey!" he roars at her.

"You say that like it's a DEAL BREAKER!" she yells back as she spins to face him.

"When you brought up your  _mentor_, " he states with air quotes, "I assumed it was someone with the first fucking idea how to conduct viable research. I didn't even consider that I would need to specifically instruct you to rule out partnering with has-beens, recluses, burn outs or unrealistic hippies chasing fairy tales. Yet, somehow, some  _fucking way_,  you manage to find the. One. Goddamn. Guy. who nails each of those categories-"

Rey starts to object and Kylo holds up his hand, pausing until she remains silently fuming.

"- AND manages to be the back-stabbing son of a bitch that sabotaged  two and a half YEARS  of my research. Years, Rey. YEARS." He draws out the last word.

It's a hard argument to dispute. Kylo had told her previously about his first true understanding of betrayal, how tens of thousands of research hours were invalidated over a disagreement about to whom the research credit was due. She can't explain how she missed connecting Kylo's story with the one Luke had told her in a defeated voice years ago.

_ (3 years ago, Sennen, West Cornwall, UK) _

"He was beyond talented. The insight he had bordered on supernatural, seeing results in his mind's-eye with absolute certainty despite my less-than-enthused feedback. He seemed to be erratic with his methods, even dangerous at times. When I discovered what had changed, I became erratic myself."

Luke paused then, looking down. 

"What changed?" Rey pressed.

"Leland Snoke," he replied lowly.

"The professor?" she asked, bemused. "I thought he went into private investing."

"He did. That was the problem. All of a sudden, Ben was asking about ownership and intellectual property. It didn't hit me what was going on until I learned of Snoke's involvement. I realized that Ben wanted to 'own' the research so Snoke could monetize it. Leaps and bounds made to ensure that even the poorest nations could maintain power grids, infrastructure... and all Snoke wanted to do was buy and sell it."

Rey's eyes widened slightly.

"But... the entire point of your group is that it's not-for-profit. It's part of the sign-on agreement!"

"Yup. That it is," Luke stated as he finished rolling his joint. Rey's brow furrowed.

"So...?"

Luke glanced up at her unasked question.

"So...?" he echoed back to her.

"So what happened??"

Luke gave a slow sigh. "I knew what would happen if Snoke obtained this data. It was a jumping off point that would inevitably lead to society-altering discoveries. Worldwide impact, you understand?"

Rey, riveted and eyes glued to her rumpled teacher, nodded.

"The server, the files, everything collected by Ben... it was corrupted."

"'Corrupted'?" 

"Somehow, a highly sophisticated virus became deeply rooted in Ben's work. Back ups, off site servers- all of it."

Rey straightened up. Is Luke saying-

No, surely not. With a clasping of her hands, she considered her words carefully.

"Luke, you didn't..." In a more serious, hushed tone, she tried again. "Did you destroy groundbreaking scientific data so your nephew couldn't have it?"

Luke stared at the crackling fire, quiet long enough that Rey was about to repeat the question. He finally spoke, his voice catching and regretful, even after all this time.

"I was never concerned what Ben would do with... It wasn't-" his voice broke and he halted. Rubbing his hand over his eyes tiredly, he cleared his throat and tried again, "Ben was like a freight train. At times, all anyone could do was try to keep up. Later, it became more difficult to follow his work and his patience for the rest of us had all but disappeared."

He paused, mouth open, as if mid-word. After a few moments, he continued.

"My father was much the same when his work began to consume him. Of course, it wasn't until much later I learned that work was the Manhattan Project."

Rey didn't move, hardly dared to breath.

"Ben is fixated with living up to my father's legacy. I've tried my whole life to live it down."

**Author's Note:**

> The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons.  
-'Manhattan Project', Wikipedia


End file.
